The Loch

by Heather Atkinson

  He’d read all the posters for the third time when Stewart and Wheeler entered, both looking sombre.

  They sat before him and stared at him hard. Mike knew they were trying to intimidate him but as he was still taller than them both even when sat down they failed miserably.

  “You finally going to get to the point then?” said Mike.

  “Hannah McNair went out for a walk at ten o’clock last night on the beach across the road from her home,” replied Stewart.

  “Sounds like a funny time for a walk.”

  “It was a custom of hers. She loves walking in the moonlight. She never came home. Her husband realised at six o’clock this morning and raised the alarm.”

  “Why didn’t he realise sooner?”

  “Their younger daughter Maggie is having trouble going to sleep on her own. He went upstairs at half nine to sit with her but he fell asleep and didn’t wake till morning.”

  “How did he know Hannah went out for a walk then if he was upstairs with the kid?”

  “Because she popped her head around the bedroom door to tell him. Maggie attests to this too because she was still awake when it happened.”

  “This is terrible, she’s a good friend of Isla’s,” he murmured, more to himself than them. Did this second disappearance mean there was a serial kidnapper on the loose, or even worse? He shoved aside the memory of the poor red-headed woman lying dead in the mortuary.

  “Where were you Mike between ten o’clock last night and six this morning?”

  “I was at home.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you receive any phone calls?”

  “No and I have no witnesses. Surely you don’t think I did something to her?”

  “We’re pursuing all lines of inquiry.”

  “You think I did something to Isla and now you figure I’ve done the same to Hannah. I mean, why would I for Christ’s sake?”

  “You tell me.”

  “Well I didn’t.”

  “You visited Hannah’s house yesterday.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Did she tell you something about Isla that you didn’t like?”

  “No, course not. All she said was the last time she saw her she returned a book she’d borrowed off her. Ask Will, he was there. Or do you think book borrowing sends me into a murderous rage?”

  “Murder? We never mentioned anything about murder.”

  “You’re thinking it, certainly in Isla’s case and don’t bullshit me that you’re not. Anyway, it’s common knowledge Hannah and Will haven’t been getting along.”

  “I know. Will himself told me.”

  “Maybe she got sick and tired of the arguing and left?”

  “Her car is still parked on the drive of the family home and she left behind her handbag containing her bank cards and cash. All her clothes and personal belongings are still in situ. The only thing she took with her was her phone. We’ve tried tracing it but it’s switched off. She wouldn’t have got very far without any transport or money, especially in such a rural area.”

  “I heard her rows with Will could get pretty aggressive.”

  “Mr McNair has an alibi.”

  “He could have snuck out when Maggie fell asleep then snuck back in.”

  “The McNairs have security cameras front and back of their home, they had them installed after experiencing some vandalism by a work rival of Will’s and they cover the entire exterior. He couldn’t have left, not even by a side window without being picked up by those cameras. No one left the house after Mrs McNair.”

  “He could have doctored the footage.”

  “I know you don’t believe it Mike but we do know what we’re doing. I’ve already had the footage analysed and it hasn’t been tampered with. It wasn’t Mr McNair.”

  Mike experienced an illogical resentment against Will for being ruled out of his wife’s disappearance so quickly. He wished it had been so easy for him. “Have you checked the loch? I hate to say it but Hannah did seem pretty depressed the last time I saw her.”

  “The divers are on with that. So Mike, another woman disappears and you have no alibi. It seems history’s repeating itself.”

  “I didn’t touch her,” he exclaimed, wincing when scarlet streaked before his eyes. “Why would I?”

  “She was close to Isla. Maybe she knew something about your relationship that you didn’t want anyone finding out?”

  “Like what Columbo?”

  “Perhaps you weren’t getting along either?”

  “This is all bullshit. You don’t have a fucking clue what’s going on so you’re hoping to pin it all on me. You’re putting two women in danger because you’re determined to look in the wrong place.” He shot to his feet, planted his hands down on the table and bellowed, “You’re so fucking stupid.”

  He realised it was a silly thing to do but he couldn’t contain himself. It felt good to shout and get some of the stress out of his system, even if he was momentarily blinded by blacks and reds.

  “Sit down Mike,” said Stewart coolly.

  He huffed and threw himself back in his chair, which unleashed another tortured creak.

  “What was your relationship with Hannah McNair?” said Wheeler, speaking for the first time.

  “Relationship?” frowned Mike. “Well, she’s a friend.”

  “How close of a friend?”

  “Not really close, she’s more Isla’s friend than mine but we get on.”

  “Has your relationship ever got any closer?”

  “Are you suggesting we were having an affair?”

  “Were you?”

  “No,” he snapped. “I’ve never cheated on Isla, nor would I. I don’t want anyone else, only her. Where’s this coming from?”

  “Just examining all possibilities.”

  “Stupid possibilities,” he muttered petulantly.

  “Alright Mike. That’s all, for now,” said Stewart dismissively.

  Mike blinked at him. “That’s it?”

  “Yes. Unless there’s anything you’d like to add?”

  “No, nothing.”

  “Excellent. DS Wheeler will take you home.”

  A confused Mike followed Wheeler through the station and back out to the Insignia. This time he was permitted to sit in the front.

  “What the hell was that about?” Mike asked Wheeler as they set off back towards Loch Eck.

  “Like the boss said,” replied Wheeler. “We’re just checking all possibilities.”

  “I didn’t hurt Isla or Hannah, I could never do something like that. You believe me, don’t you?” said Mike, hating the pathetic hope in his voice.

  “I’m not allowed a personal opinion either way,” replied Wheeler sternly. “I have to work off the facts alone.”

  “But you must have an opinion?”

  Wheeler refused to reply, keeping his gaze fixed on the road.

  Mike gave up trying to talk and turned his attention to the window, wondering if one day soon he was going to end up in prison.

  Mike was dismayed to see the reporters had returned to the top of his drive. The police were back too, a pair of uniformed officers ushering the press away from the car so Wheeler could steer onto the drive.

  “What’s going on?” said Mike.

  Wheeler wouldn’t reply.

  Outside the house were more police officers, along with a forensic team in their white paper suits. Two of them stepped up to greet them as they got out of the car.

  “What are you lot doing back?” yelled Mike. “I told you all to piss off.”

  As he hadn’t shaved in a few days he was unaware that he resembled the bear Sal had said he was, only this time he was an angry one.

  One of the scene examiners in a rustling white paper suit turned to address Wheeler. “We’ve found a body.”

  “What?” breathed Mike as Isla’s face flickered before his eyes. “No.”

  His knees went weak but he was saved from falling by Wh
eeler grabbing his arms and wrenching them up his back.

  “Michael Miller,” he began. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Isla Campbell.”

  “Wait, no,” exclaimed the scene examiner. “The body isn’t Isla.”

  “Thank you God,” breathed Mike, tilting his face to the sky, a tear rolling down his cheek.

  “Alright,” replied Wheeler. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Hannah McNair…”

  “It’s not her either,” said the scene examiner. “And he’s not responsible for this body.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because it’s been here at least twenty years.”

  Wheeler sheepishly released Mike.

  “What?” said Mike. “A body, here?”

  The scene examiner nodded. “Buried under the earth in the cellar.”

  The shock rendered him immobile before he vomited onto the driveway. As he hadn’t eaten all he brought up was the coffee he’d drunk at the station, leaving a brown puddle on the ground.

  “Who is it?” said Wheeler.

  “We can’t be one hundred percent certain until we’ve done more tests but judging by the items we found with him it’s Robert Campbell, Isla’s grandfather.”

  “He vanished twenty years ago,” said Mike. “Isla told me all about it. Her grandma said he ran out on her.”

  “I’m afraid he didn’t run anywhere. The body shows severe blunt force trauma to the skull.”

  “You mean someone bashed him around the head?”

  “Yes. Many times.”

  “How did you not find this sooner? You checked the cellar.”

  “We checked that the earth hadn’t been disturbed and it hadn’t, not recently anyway.”

  “So how did you find it now?” Realisation dawned. “Because of Hannah McNair’s disappearance. You were looking for her down there and probably Isla too.”

  The scene examiner just nodded, looking awkwardly at the ground.

  “Can we go inside the cottage?” said Wheeler.

  “Yes,” replied the scene examiner. “There won’t be any evidence of a twenty year old murder left, especially after the house was extensively remodelled. I guess now we know why that was done but we’re still in the process of removing the body. It’s going to take us a while to excavate the cellar though.”

  “I am not going in that house until the body’s gone,” announced Mike.

  “We’ll talk in the car then,” Wheeler told Mike in the gentlest tone he’d used with him all day.

  Mike nodded, trudged back to the car and got back in the passenger seat.

  “What did Isla tell you about her grandfather?” began Wheeler.

  “So you’re not going to accuse me of killing old Pa Campbell then, are you?” said Mike sarcastically.

  “Of course not.”

  “Make’s a change,” he muttered.

  “So, did she tell you much about him?”

  “A bit. She wasn’t very fond of him. She said he could be nasty and he hit Rhona, Isla’s grandma.”

  “So he was abusive?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where was Isla when he died?”

  “She was on holiday with her mom and brother. Their dad died when they were little kids. Like I said, they thought he’d run off. Rhona called to tell them while they were away.”

  “Any other family around here when he died?”

  “No.”

  “So did Granny Campbell wait until all the family had gone away to bash her abusive husband’s head in and bury him in the cellar?”

  “She must have done. He’d had several affairs so she said he’d run off with one of his women.”

  “And all the time he was lying in his grave under the house. Sorry,” added Wheeler when Mike shivered.

  “It’s fucking horrible,” whispered Mike, feeling the cold sink even deeper into his bones. “No wonder Isla hated it down there. Maybe she sensed something was under the floor?”

  “Maybe. Do you think Robert Campbell’s murder could be linked to Isla’s disappearance and possibly Hannah McNair’s too?”

  “How could it be? He died twenty years ago.”

  “Unless Rhona didn’t kill him personally. Maybe someone else did it for her?”

  “She was a small, slight woman, like Isla. Robert was a big guy, about six foot and strong, I’ve seen the photos. How could someone the size of Rhona Campbell batter his head in and drag his body all the way down to the cellar?”

  “Could she have had a lover?”

  “No idea. Isla never mentioned one.”

  “If she did then the lover could still be alive and they might be afraid their victim is going to be found, which is why they abducted Isla.”

  “We were thinking of having the cellar remodelled, we talked about it in the café with Will McNair because he’s a builder. We were thinking of paying him to do it.”

  “How many people knew this?”

  “Well we weren’t making a secret of it in the café, there were plenty of people to overhear.”

  “Can you remember who exactly?”

  “No, it was busy that day but there were plenty of the locals about.”

  “So the killer overhears that you’re going to excavate the cellar and gets scared. He kidnaps Isla and frames you in the hope that you’ll be arrested for her murder and put in prison, leaving the cottage empty, giving him chance to remove the body. What about Isla’s brother? Have you heard anything from him?”

  “No, nothing but his colleague told me he was in the middle of the Namibian desert and it could take days to reach him.”

  “So the killer knows there’s no risk of the brother returning any time soon, giving him time to remove the body. But the set-up fails and you’re not arrested. So Hannah McNair is taken too in a second attempt to frame you.”

  Mike was genuinely excited, feeling like finally they could be arriving at some sort of solution. “Only that backfires too. I’m not arrested again and the police search the cottage and find the body. But wait a minute. What does that mean for Isla?”

  “Well, the perpetrator would only need to hold her until the body’s been removed, then they could let her go.”

  “But what if she’s seen their face? If our theory’s right it’s a local, it has to be. That means she knows who they are and this person has already killed once.”

  “Don’t think like that, okay? We don’t even know if we’re right yet. Any lover of Rhona Campbell’s would have to be in their seventies at least, unless she went for men considerably younger than her. A man that old wouldn’t be strong enough to kidnap two healthy young women and dig a corpse out of a cellar.”

  “Dammit, you’re right,” sighed Mike. He’d really thought they were getting to the bottom of the mystery.

  “Don’t despair yet, we could still be onto something, we’re just not seeing the full picture. Leave it with me. I’ll do some digging into Rhona Campbell’s past. Any idea where I should start?”

  “Try Macbeth’s witches in the convenience store in Strachur. If there’s any gossip, they’ll know it.”

  “Will do. Do you want to pack a bag and I’ll take you somewhere to stay?”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Err, because of the body in your house.”

  “The scene examiner said I can go inside when they’re done.”

  “Yes but can you be in that house knowing what you know?”

  “Right now it’s all I have of Isla. I have to stay and look after her flowers and vegetable patch. And the intruder might leave something else of hers.”

  “Has anything else turned up?”

  “No,” he said sadly.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you think because I’m doing it. I’ll wait on the boat until they’ve finished.”

  With that he got out of the car and walked down the jetty, feeling the ominous presence of the cottage at his back. It suddenly didn’t
feel so much like home now he knew a murder had been committed in it.

  He unlocked the cabin, which appeared to have been untouched. Just to be sure he went below to check but nothing had been left for him to find. The shotgun was also still in situ, thankfully. He watched the police and scene examiners moving around at the house. After an hour he got bored and decided to go for a sail up the loch. He headed north, up to Glenbranter. Steering the boat into the jetty there he saw a large group of people wrapped up in outdoor gear, a multi-coloured hoard of Regatta, Berghaus and Trespass jackets. The group, which must have numbered about fifty, were being led by the Colonel and Malcolm, who for once appeared to be getting along.

  “What’s going on?” said Mike, jumping off the boat to greet them.

  “We’re the search party for Isla and Hannah,” announced the Colonel in his clipped voice. “We’re splitting up into groups to check these trails.”

  “I’ll help.”

  “Oh right, okay. Are you sure you’re up to it?”

  “I need to be doing something and my uncle taught me how to track. I can be useful.”

  “Oh good, we need skilled people. You can tag onto Theta group.” He said it with such authority Mike half-expected to see a group of marines standing there waiting for orders when actually it was a bunch of middle-aged people with backpacks and bobble hats. To his relief, Billy was among their number.

  The various parties were given their instructions, the Colonel having divided his map into six areas, one group searching each one. Then they all filed off in their different directions.

  CHAPTER 11

  Theta group were an unfriendly bunch who looked put out to have a suspected murderer among their illustrious number, all except for Billy, who fell into step beside Mike.

  “You sure you want to be seen with me?” Mike asked him.

  “I know you didn’t hurt Isla or Hannah.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I know you. This is some psycho, some stranger no doubt who wandered into the area, saw Isla and Hannah on their own and took their chance.”